MetaFilter

I love looking around when I'm in public places and trying to pick out the people that I think smoke pot. Its fun because statistically there have to be a few people in every crowd that smoke, even if they don't look like they do. I've noticed quite a few drug related threads on Metafilter lately and I've been dying to ask this question: How many Metafilter users smoke marijuana or use or have used other illicit substances regularly. I do realize that I'm supposed to post a link, but I just had to know.
posted by bytecode at 11:10 PM PST - 98 comments

Shark bites off boy's arm and it's reattached! I know it's a Yahoo! link, but this seems incredible. The boy's uncle wrestled the shark to the beach where it was shot and the limb was retrieved from the shark's mouth. Is there anything science and strong uncles can't do?
posted by megnut at 9:16 PM PST - 18 comments

Yet another reason to avoid the Battlefield Earth DVD: A brand new "feature" called Regional Coding Enhancement, or RCE. Having the word "enhancement" in the title might make us think that we, the consumer, might actually benefit for this technology, but that isn't the case. The only people to benefit are the movie studios who, not content to gouge us on DVD prices (DVD's are cheaper to press than video tapes) have made it impossible to backup a DVD, or play a foreign DVD on a North American DVD player. Now, thanks to RCE, if you own a region-free DVD player, guess what? You can't play Battlefield Earth on it!
posted by johnnydark at 7:58 PM PST - 30 comments

For Gosh's Sake, Stop Rockin'! Featered here are excerpts of Rock Til You Drop, an intentionally provocative slam of the notion of rockin' into old age. I'm not sure if author John Strausbaugh has an age limit (he suggests, but doesn't outright state, one's early 30s). But it's clear that he thinks any fake version of an old band should call it quits (Steppenwolf), as should any playing casinos (Yes) or rockers who have had, say, hip replacement surgery (Eddie Van Halen). And he apparently thinks the Stones should've called it quits in, say, 1972. A cruel hack job, or on-the-mark? Somewhere in between? And what rockers should retire?
posted by raysmj at 6:34 PM PST - 36 comments

ASFRecorder Pull those streams right off of the Internet in Windows Media Format. Songs that are streamed form band websites where there are no singles or the new album yet, just grab it down.
posted by benjh at 5:38 PM PST - 19 comments

Never be stuck without numbers ane twa thrie fower fyve sax seiven aicht nyne ten < Count to ten in scottish and over 4000 other languages.
posted by stevridie at 4:06 PM PST - 8 comments

Exec-worker gap in pay gets wider Executives make 442% more than they did in 1990. Blue collar workers 2.7%. 1/3 of all Americans spent most of the 1990's working for $8 an hour or less.
posted by crasspastor at 11:41 AM PST - 88 comments

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry... The coolest/funniest BlogSpot blog I've ever come across — for those of us who don't watch a lot of TV, we can still get our Springer fix.
posted by o2b at 11:03 AM PST - 3 comments

From 1972 to 1998, the number of American voters claiming to attend church regularly has stayed stable at 37%. The number who say they never attend church at all has risen from 14% to 33%. What affect will this have on American politics?
posted by Steven Den Beste at 9:08 AM PST - 31 comments

Fish or Folk? Farmers along the Klamath took matters into their own hands last week, opening an irrigation floodgate that had been closed to protect local fish. It isn't just about fish, but also fishermen. A complex issue of humans v. the environment, broken promises, and a big ole' sense of entitlement.
posted by frykitty at 8:11 AM PST - 5 comments

UK Race Riots Continue: The Bradford Riots, In Pictures Great pics! Bradford's riots last night left it looking like a scene from a World War 2 bombing. 120 police officers injured. I even saw a few set on fire on the live reports on TV through the night. Cars torched everywhere. Stabbings, petrol bombs aflying, all sorts of violence.
 
I'm just grateful I don't live up North!
posted by wackybrit at 7:22 AM PST - 21 comments

Describing a New Entropy A reformulation of Boltzmann-Gibbs entropy by one Constantino Tsallis is causing quite a buzz/stir in the theoretical physics community. It was originally published in 1988, but it sounds like it's only recently hit its stride. There's going to be a conference on "Tsallis entropy" in October co-chaired by Murray Gell-Mann!
posted by kliuless at 6:19 AM PST - 2 comments

SUVs Drive Area to Pollution Violations. Use only under close adult supervision. For outdoor use only. Do not hold in hand after lighting. Place on ground, light fuse and get away.
posted by NortonDC at 6:16 AM PST - 18 comments

Has there ever been a classical music review this damning? "It's difficult to tell how good they are. If they played a wrong note or lost the rhythm, no one but the composer would notice. Music is dead, and here is the corpse, embalmed on two slices of plastic hell. "
posted by feelinglistless at 3:14 AM PST - 38 comments

Americans less supportive of 1st amendment. Roughly four in 10 people (41%) said the media have too much freedom. Four in 10 respondents (39%) believed the First Amendment goes too far in guaranteeing rights. 71% said it was "very" or "somewhat" important for the government to hold the media in check.
posted by frednorman at 2:20 AM PST - 17 comments